Car-coupling.



No. 816,165. PATENTED MAR. 27, 1906. W KBLSO GAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1, 1905.

4 SHEETSSHEET 1.

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.INVENTOR PATBNTEDMAR. 27, 1906.

W. KBLSO. CAR COUPLING. APPLICATION mum JUNE 1, 1905.

4 sHnnTs-snnnr 2 INVENTOR WITNESSES PATENTED MAR. 27, 1906 W. KBLSO. OAR COUPLING. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1, 1905 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTOR W Ala WIT" ESSES No. 816,165. PATENTED MAR. 27, 1906. W. KELSO.

UAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1., 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

WITNESSES INVENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

CAR-COUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 27, 1906.

Application filed June 1, 1905. Serial No. 263,268.

To (tZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM KELso, of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a Car- Coupler, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a, plan view of my coupler partly in section, the parts being shown in closed and locked position. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line II II of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view, partly in section, the parts being shown in uncoupled or open position. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line IV IV of Fig. 3, the locking-pin having been raised by a rear pull on the lifter. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view on the line II II of Fig. 1, the parts being shown in lock-set position. Fig. 6 is an inverted horizontal sectional view on the line VI VI of Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a detail view of a modified form of locking-pin and lifter. Fig. 8 is a perspective View of my coupler.

Like symbols ofreference indicate like parts wherever they occur.

My invention relates to that class of car couplers in which the coupling-head is provided with a coupling-knuck1e adapted to engage with a similar coupling-knuckle of the coupler of the opposite car, and its purpose is to provide means for throwing the knuckle 0 en, means for automatically lock-setting t e knuckle, means for preventing the creeping of the locking-block, and means for unseating the locking-block after it has been lock-set without movement of the knuckle.

I will now describe my invention so that others skilled in the art to which it appertains may manufacture and use the same.

In the drawings, 2 represents the couplerhead, which is forked and is .provided with a cavity which forms a seat for the pivoted swinging knuckle 3. This knuckle is pivoted to the coupler-head by the pin 4. Extending within the cavity of the coupler-head is the tail 5 of the knuckle 3. On the lower face of the tail 5 is a shoulder or incline 6, which serves as a cam-face against which the knucklethrower 7 bears during the operation of throwing the knuckle open. The knuckle-thrower 7 is in the form of an arm pivoted to the floor of the cavity in the coupler-head by the pin 8, which fits in an opening in the floor and is preferably integral with the arm. This knuckle-thrower 7 rests on the floor of the cavity, and as its pivotal point is on the opposite side of the coupler-head from the pivotal point of the knuckle when the knucklethrower is caused to swing on its pivot it will pass under the tail of the knuckle and bearing against the incline 6 will cause the knuckle 3 to swing open.

The locking-block 9 extends vertically in a sleevelO on the coupler-head, and it is adapted to be raised in the sleeve by a suitable lifter and to fall therein by gravity. When in its lowered and in its locked position, the locking-block is supported by a collar 11, which rests on the top of the sleeve 10, and it extends downwardly in the path of the tail 5 of the knuckle 3 to prevent the knuckle from swinging open, and thereby becoming uncoupled from the knuckle of the coupler of the opposite car.

Within the locking-block 9 is a recess 12, within which recess is the lifter 13, which moves loosely in the recess and is provided with a lug 14, which in its movement in the recess engages a shoulder 15 and lifts the locking-block from out the path of the tail of the knuckle. At the upper end of the lifter 13 is an eye 16, to which the chain extending from the lifting rod is secured. The recess 12 opens not only through the top of the lockingblock 9, but also through the rear side. The purpose of this is to permit the lifter to tilt rearwardly in the recess should the lifter be subjected to a pull on a line in the direction of the movement of the car and rising in the recess under this pull raise the locking-block out of the path of the knuckle, thus unlocking the coupler.

The kickerthat is, the member which actuates the knuckle-thrower 7is an arm 17, which is ivoted to the lower portion of the locking-b ock 9 by a pin 18, integral with the arm and seating in a cavity in the side of the locking block. This kicker extends rearwardly in the cavity of the coupler-head and at its rear end it is provided with a head 19, which when the locking-block 9 is raised drags over the floor of the cavity until it enters and engages with a depression 20, which is formed in the floor and serves as a stop to the movement of the kicker rearwardly whenever the head of the kicker enters and engages with the depression. The position of this stop 20 is so arranged that the head of the kicker shall enter the recess when the movement of the locking-block has been sufficient to bring the locking-block out of the path of the tail of the knuckle, and this engagement of the kicker causes the kicker to serve as a support to the locking-block in what is known as a lockset positionthat is, a position in which the locking-block is held out of the path of the tail of the knuckle, leaving the knuckle free to swing open. The head 19 of the kicker is also so arranged that when the lo cking-pin 9 is given a further upwardly vertical movement the head will come in con tact with a cam-face 21 on the side of the knuckle-thrower 7 and will press the knucklethrower against the incline 6 on the lower face of the tail of the knuckle, thus throwing the knuckle open in position to engage with the knuckle of the car-coupler of the opposite car. Within the cavity of the coupler-head above the kicker 19 is a boss 22, having a convex face. When the kicker 17 rises with the locking-block after the kicker has reached the lock-set position, the upper face of the head 19, which is curved, comes in contact with and travels under the face of the boss, thus imparting a movement to the head, giving the required pressure on the cam-face 21 to operate the knuckle-thrower.

After the locking-block 9 has been lockset the coupler is in position to be uncoupled by the separation of the cars, the knuckle pulling open under the force of the separation. In this case it is necessary that the parts of the coupler move freely at the points where they come in contact with each other, and to insure this freedom of movement I provide the tail of the knuckle where it bears against the kicker with a bevel 25, and the surface of the kicker is also rounded or beveled at this meeting-point.

After the knuckle has been thrown open or is in open position for coupling and as the knuckle closes during the coupling the knuckle comes in contact with the kicker, and I have provided the tail of the knuckle with a bevel 26 at this meeting-point, and also there is a rounded surface on the kicker at this point, the bevel and rounded surface allowing free movement of the parts.

When the locking-block 9 is in its lowered and locking position at one side of the tail of the knuckle, the lower end of the lifter 13, which end is curved, will extend through the slot in the rear side of the block and under the draw-bar, thus forming a stop to the upward movement of the locking-block until the lifter has been raised from this position by the lifting-chain. This stop prevents the locking-block from creeping.

The depression 20, that serves as a stop for the head 19 of the kicker, is provided with an aperture 23, extending through the base of the coupler-head. The object of this aperture is to permit the insertion of a tool for the purpose of raising the head 19 from its seat in the depression 20, and thus unseat the locking-block 9 from its lock-set position without the necessity of moving the car.

As has already been described, the lifter 13 is loosely held within the recess 12 of the locking-block 9, and should the lifter be subjected to a pull on a line in the direction of the movement of the car the lifter will lift rearwardly in the recess and bring the locking-block to a lock-set position. This construction is important, for the reason that often heretofore where the draw-bar or coupling-head has pulled loose from the draftrigging the coupler-head, being coupled to the coupler of the car in advance, would pull out of the rear car, and, dropping on the track,

vcause the destruction of the coupler-head and often cause serious damage to the car and train, for the reason that a pull on the lifting chain in the ordinary form of carcouplers in any direction other than a vertical one would not serve to unlock the knuckle. With my improved construction this rearward pull on the chain under these circumstances would raise and lock-set the locking-block, and thus unlocking the knuckle permit the cars to uncouple and separate without pulling the coupler-head entirely away from the car.

Sometimesas, for instance, where the couplers of a train of cars have been placed in a lock-set position by mischievous persons-it is desirable to unseat the lock-set without moving the cars. This I am enabled to do owing to the devices employed by me for lock-setting the locking-block, and the aperture in the base of the coupler-head leading into the recess 20, through which aperture a tool may be inserted to lift the head 19 from its engagement with the recess, and thus permit the kicker to move backward and the locking-block to drop by gravity in front of the tail of the knuckle, and thus lock the same.

Although I have shown and described a certain form of car-coupler, the form and construction of the parts may be varied by the mechanic skilled in the art without departing from my inventionas, for instance, the form of the locking-block and lifter may be modified, as is shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings, in which the lifter 13 is provided with a transverse pin 1 1 in place of the lug 14, which pin engages and moves in the slot 15", which takes the place of the shoulder 15.

The advantages of my invention, which will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, result from the knuckle-thrower and kicker, which enables the knuckle to be thrown open from any position which it may assume in the coupler-head; also, from the devices and arrangement of parts that enable the lockingprevent the creeping of the locking-pin, and also from the construction and arrangement of devices that permits the lock-setting of the locking-block by a rear pull on the lifting-chain. Another great advantage in my improvement results from the fact that the parts are connected with each other by means of pins which are either securely keyed to the parts or integral therewith.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a car-coupler, the combination of a knuckle, a movable locking-block, a knucklethrower adapted to engage with the tail of the knuckle and to throw-the knuckle open, a kicker pivoted to the locking-block and adapted to engage with the knuckle-thrower and to operate the same through the movement of the locking-block, substantially as specified.

2. In a car-coupler, the combination of a knuckle, a movable locking-block, a knucklethrower, a pivotal pin integral with the knucklethrower, and adapted to seat in a cavity in the floor of the coupler-head, a kicker pivoted to the locking-block by a pin integral with the kicker, said kicker being adapted to engage with the knuckle-thrower, and to operate the same through the movement of the locking-block.

3. In a car-coupler, the combination of a knuckle, a movable locking-block, a knucklethrower adapted to engage with the tail of the knuckle and to throw the knuckle open, a kicker pivoted to the locking-block and adapted to engage with the knuckle-thrower and to operate the same through the movement of the locking-block, and a boss arranged to guide the movement of the kicker, substantially as specified.

4, In a car-coupler, the combination of a knuckle, the tail of which extends within the cavity of the coupler-head, an incline or camface formed on the lower face of the tail of the knuckle, a knuckle-thrower pivoted to the floor of the cavity, and adapted to swing below the tail of the knuckle and bear against the face of the incline to open the knuckle, a

locking-block and a kicker so pivoted to the locking-block as to operate the knucklethrower when the locking-block is raised, substantially as specified.

5. In a car-coupler, the combination of a knuckle, a locking-block, a knuckle-thrower, a kicker pivoted to the locking-block, and a stop formed in the floor of the coupling-head and adapted to engagethe kicker to hold the locking-block in a lock-set position, when the locking-block is raised, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM KELSO.

Witnesses:

MARGARET C. KEEBLE, JAMES K. BAKEWELL. 

